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Topic: Lyndhurst Estate, Erdington (Read 1693 times)

Peg, Phil seems to give me a yellow card what ever I do.Still I think I will survive

Do you know wot, Ed? Bloke who's never made mistakes is a bloke who's never lived!Now back on topic - when I moved to The Lyndhurst in 1959 (aged 10) there was a thriving community spirit, due mainly to the fact everyone was a new resident and excited at living in such palacial surroundings - my mother went to keep fit classes at Lyndhurst School and my father to a fishing club which also met there, there was an annual get together again held at the school for all the residents of the tower block where I lived - good times, but as people moved away things did change.Peg.

So we moved in on the Friday and my dad didn't hang about checking out the local hostelries the following day, when we lived in Heaton St his local was The Bull on The Flat but his allegience would now have to change forever. The nearest pub was the Yenton followed by The Cross Keys, he eventually settled on the latter, it was a few years after we moved on to The Lyndhurst that the pub of the same name was built, unfortunately it became notorious for the wrong reasons - more about that later.Peg.

When the tower blocks were first built they were quite well equipped for their time, they had underfloor electric heating to the lounge and hall, but frankly it was ineffective and costly to run (it was replaced by gas-fired boiler radiators some years later), the kitchen was provided with a electric drying cupboard but my mother insisted on her laundry being dried naturally on the roof summer and winter, she worked full time so washday was normally Saturdays - enter Peg Monkey - pegging out assistant. I remember vividly mid-winter days when it got dark at 4.00pm and temperatures were below freezing (even lower with the wind-chill factor) collecting laundry from the rooftop washing lines that was crisply frozen - the pillow cases were like sheets of cold cardboard.I grummbled at the task but not too strongly - I was a member of a football team and my mum was on the rota to wash our kit!.There was a bonus at being on the rooftop on a dark crisp winter's night - if a low flying aircraft past it was quite a sight lit with its navigation and landing lights, you could clearly see the tha passengers.Peg.Note to Moderator Roy: The attachment is 38kb, well inside the forum's limit of 80kb and takes up less disc space than a 5 line text post.

Construction of the estate startd in 1957, and when I moved there in 1959 it was about 75% complete, I can't remember seeing an official completion date but my guess is it was 1960-61, by that time it was almost a self-contained community (only needing a doctors and dentist surgery which were closeby anyway) on completion the estate had a village hall (built some years after the school, which took on many of its duties including a polling station, and club meetings), its own shops, (trading-wise always challenged by the major shopping centres at Wylde Green and the even bigger High St) The Lyndhurst Pub (which was closed down some years later because of trouble: shootings and the like) and The Malcolm Lockyer Youth Club (on the nothern edge of the estate, it had/has a fantastic flood-lit 5-a-side football pitch).A real feature was children were allowed to use the sizeable playing field at the side of the school out of school hours (now built on I believe,I played football there countless times, including a Tower Block Versus Tower Block football match, which was well patronised by parents).Peg.

My dad's claim to fame: (long before sat-navs), difficult for me to estimate the date but it was after I got married and moved out (Sept 72), one Saturday he was heading for his mid-day jar of lemonade at the Cross Keys, and had reached a point about opposite Holy Lane, when a car stopped and the occupant asked for directions to Penns Hall - it was snooker pro Jimmy White heading for a tournament there. Peg.

Each tower block (except Standleys - a retirement block) was provided with a small play area by the rear entrance, this included a bench or two so new mums could chat whilst they kept an eye on their off-spring. The tower blocks at either end of the estate (Burcombe and Harlech) had more space that the other blocks and were provided with an additional item: a slide in artform. I can't remember the Harlech slide but a sketch of the Burcombe slide is shown below. I believe both Harlech and Burcombe were/are scheduled for demolition as part of plans for the estates redevelopment. Peg.

My dad's claim to fame: (long before sat-navs), difficult for me to estimate the date but it was after I got married and moved out (Sept 72), one Saturday he was heading for his mid-day jar of lemonade at the Cross Keys, and had reached a point about opposite Holy Lane, when a car stopped and the occupant asked for directions to Penns Hall - it was snooker pro Jimmy White heading for a tournament there. Peg.

I'm going to tell this tale in 2 parts in case I'm timed-out or breach Kb allowance.The Glider Part 1 - Have you ever looked back and thought I can't believe I did that? - Read on! I'm 15, it's summer 1964 and schools out; it's about mid-day, my dad's working nights and he's snoring away in the next room and my mom's at work as I relax on my divan in my room looking at my collection of football programmes on the wall (maily Blues who have just managed to escape relegation,again). My eyes pan to the huge model glider hanging from the ceiling on cotton, which I constructed awhile ago as part of The Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award Scheme. (I obtained both Silver and Gold whilst living on the Lyndhurst and to receive the latter I was invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace where I met Prince Philip. (Jimmy White?! I topped my dad's claim to fame, right!?).I suddenly enter Philosophical Mode thinking, If I was that glider would I want to be tethered to a ceiling to langish in endless obscurity or would I prefer a few minutes of freedom doing what I'm meant to do? I look out the window of our 6th floor flat, it's a fine sunny day with no wind and it's unusually quiet - no children. I release the glider from it's confines, lay it on the bed and dust it off - then I open the bedroom window as far as it will go - can you see where this is going?...........Peg.